Yesterday I went to my local health food store to purchase a few herbs and supplies that I needed for an immunity class I was teaching over the weekend. While I was there I also picked up a bottle of fire cider, the strongly infused, herby, garlic-y vinegar. I figured I might as well bring it to show my class and have them taste a potent traditional recipe that’s helpful for cold and flu season. I usually make my own fire cider, but since I didn’t have any of my own on hand, I wanted to try the Shire City Herbals brand. I’d seen them around before, they have a cool label, and they are a local Massachusetts company – bonus points all around. Later I tried it, and it’s good stuff. I was pleased. However, ironically enough, just hours after I had purchased the fire cider I was alerted to some alarming news. Herbal friends on Facebook started posting information that Shire City Herbals had, unbeknownst to anyone else, previously filed a trademark on the words “fire cider”. My first thought was “that’s ridiculous!” and then my second thought was “wait, can they really do that?!” The thing is, Shire City did not invent the name “fire cider.” That name has been around for decades (if not longer) and was coined, or at least made famous, by Rosemary Gladstar of Sage Mountain. Shire City was just the first to legally claim it as its own. It now officially belongs to them, not to all of us fire cider makers. It’s as if they took the name of their grandmother’s family recipe and slapped a trademark on it, preventing any other grandchildren from calling their versions of the recipe the original name. What was once a part of herbal folklore is now legal property of a business. Actually, this business went beyond just trademarking, since anyone can add an unregistered ™ to anything. The purpose of an unregistered trademark is to put your competition on notice of your intellectual property. (Read more here.) Shire City went one step further by choosing to register the term "fire cider" with the government for an official trademark certificate. Now they can use a registered mark to signify that “fire cider” is their intellectual property. If you search for a while you can spot the ® subtly hidden in the leaves and branches on the right side of the label. Shire City’s response to concerned Facebook postings is straight forward: “We are not asking anyone to change their recipe or process, just the name of the product they are selling.” I am sure the owners of City Shire Herbs are good people, and they probably didn’t intend to alienate the herbal community with their product. In fact, if it weren’t for all this nonsense they should be applauded for bringing more awareness to traditional recipes like fire cider. I understand the need of a small business to protect itself and its products, and I whole-heartedly support herbalists making a living from their craft. But this tactic of trademarking the name of a traditional herbal remedy just feels so weird and antithetical to the whole spirit of herbalism from which fire cider itself originates. That a common term of folk herbalism now “belongs” to company is a scary and disconcerting thing indeed. Sue Kusch of The Withered Herb talks more about the ownership of language and her personal experience here. My concern is that this sets a precedent for future ownership of folkloric terms. What’s next? On a personal note, every winter I make a batch of fire cider and sell it for holiday gifts. This year I took a lovely recipe presented by Juliet Blankespoor and made it my own with a few omissions (no peppers) and a few additions (schisandra berries). I labeled it as Red Fire Cider. What will I do next year? Well, the same thing again… it’s going to be called fire cider, because that’s what it is. And I won’t be alone in doing it. In fact, I bet many who are fans of this little blog will be doing it too. I am not writing all this because I am upset that a company prohibits me from labeling my products as Fire Cider, but because I think it foreshadows a larger and potentially more destructive trend that is to come. I ask and encourage the herbal community to speak up and join in this conversation. Please, let’s share our thoughts and concerns in a constructive way. I know it sounds naive in our market-driven world, but the beauty and power of traditional herbal medicine is that it belongs to all of us. I really believe that, which is why I feel called to speak up about it.**Update: Right before publishing this post I read this very excellent article by Ryn at the CommonWealth Center for Herbal Medicine. It’s an insightful overview of the fire cider situation, with responses by Shire City Herbals. I hope more of us will keep writing about, asking questions, and continuing this dialogue.

well said, Steph! it seems like we were in synch while we were writing these. i like how you call out the movement from folklore to legalism, i think that's really central here.

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Jocelyn

1/25/2014 09:12:21 am

This is too bad. I have been using Shire City for two years and I am upset that they are taking "ownership" to the name that has been around long before they were a company.

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Katherine Nobles

1/25/2014 09:21:16 pm

Shouldn't they get in trouble for plagiarism then? I mean, they didn't come up with the name.

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cherylann_mcfetridge@hotmail.com

1/25/2014 11:47:59 pm

I don't feel this is an ethical thing to do, they did not invent the name fire cider, and like some one else already said the name has been around and used by many herbalist long before their company was. If they wanted to trade mark a name they should have come up with their own name, not steal a name, and then tell all the other herbalist who have used the name for years and years to come up with their own name for the product. The name fire cider belongs to all herbalist. Sad to see a company betray their fellow herbalist like this.

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MaryLouise

1/26/2014 12:38:50 am

some people were born with more guts than brains; which reflects in the absence of common sense and moral ethics. When someone does something such as trying to capitalize on other people's goodness; it usually backfires. I believe this is such an incidence.
In reality, it would be my guess that it 'cost' them dearly and the best that could happen for them is a good lesson to be learned. Now the question is: will they learn the lesson?

This is a very well written explanation of the current state of affairs. It is so very sad to find herbalist placing themselves at odds with a community historically known for being both cooperative and kind to one another. This is simply to nutty to understand... how or why they would do something which seriously borders on the unethical.

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eric

10/26/2015 12:53:56 pm

I agree that this is still a good written explanation of the ongoing situation. I for one believe that we, both businesses and individuals have an obligation to change if our actions have created something different than our original intentions, especially if we see that our actions have hurt or offended others. That includes "small" businesses that choose a name, and then fall back on the laws that have been created to support and protect capital interest and the ideology of "private and intellectual property rights".
Herbalists like myself are asking that the name be entered into the public commons, a place that is slightly more protected from the invisible hand of the free market, and the well intended small business owner who now due to globalization has been introduced to practices they didn't practice, and through gentrification, and the destabilization of local economies/communities now has the chance to cash in on some of the popular trends in the millennial generation.
For example, by the time it is shipped clear cross country to the store near me in Northern California to be marketed and sold as a cocktail mixer, this product has consumed more resources than the locally made mix, (this is globalization in effect in our country= the cost of resources do not matter, only available markets for consumer consumption) Shire City markets here to those with disposable incomes and a taste for spicey alcohol, not to those with health issues and a lack of medical coverage and support. This is the deeper issue as I understand it for many of us herbalists that disagree with the trade marking = herbalism is the people medicine and has always been, and every herbalist i've meet does this work for the people and the health of our communities first, not to mass produce a product to be sold coast to coast and push out local producers,,, intentionally or not, this is what is happening.
In the end Shire City can change, they can do what they want,,, it would cost them money, and money is the bottom line, this is a business and Shire City appears as though money is what they are after, not the health of the people. From what i've read on line, and seen in stores, Shire City is about selling a drink mix to those with disposable incomes, and when they get hooked, their hip websites will show you how to build a pallet garden for your newly gentrified neighborhood drinking parties. Shire City has the power to change, they have the power to work with herbalists, and in the end, they now have the networks and funds to help support and strengthen the movement to legally place "fire cider" into the public commons where we believed it was, and believe it should be.
Thanks for keeping the dialog going.
eric

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Welcome! I'm Steph.

I'm an herbalist and botanical educator. Join me in discovering the joy of herbs!